Salazar to Tester: No plans for national monument in Montana
Senator also questions Interior chief on false rumors of land purchases near Missouri River Breaks
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – There are no plans to create any national monuments in Montana, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar confirmed to Senator Jon Tester today.
Salazar also confirmed that there are no plans for the government to pursue land purchases along the Missouri River Breaks.
Tester questioned Salazar during a Senate hearing, asking about a recently leaked Interior Department memo which listed possible ideas for monument designations.
Tester directly questioned whether the Administration has any plans to designate a national monument in northeastern Montana.
“There are no plans that we have to move forward,” Salazar responded, adding that there have been “no directions from the White House that we move forward on monument designation.”
Salazar also repeated to Tester his commitment to seek local public input on any decisions regarding public lands.
“If there’s any sort of activity like that going on,” Tester asked, “public input on the ground would be sought out by your Department?”
“Absolutely,” Salazar responded.
Tester told Salazar some Montanans are “fired up” by false rumors of the Interior Department planning to purchase land from willing sellers along the Missouri River Breaks.
“Do you know if this is something that’s real or is this something that is not real?” Tester asked.
“I am not aware that there is any such plan,” Salazar responded, adding the best way to manage public lands is for members of Congress to pursue legislation based on ideas from local communities. “That’s what we intend to do.”
Video of the exchange between Tester and Salazar is available online at http://www.facebook.com/video/video.p...amp;ref=nf .
Rep. Denny Rehberg indicated that he would continue to promote his bill, H.R. 4754, which would require congressional approval of new National Monument designations in Montana. A similar provision is already in place for Wyoming.
Rehberg released the following statement following testimony of U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar before a Senate committee today: “Public input is certainly important, but it’s not enough if that input is ignored or comes after a policy has been written or implemented. When it comes to executive action, we’ve already seen this Administration shoot first and ask questions later, and now that the sights are on millions of acres in Montana, the responsible action is to reassert congressional oversight, just like Wyoming has already done.”
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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – There are no plans to create any national monuments in Montana, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar confirmed to Senator Jon Tester today.
Salazar also confirmed that there are no plans for the government to pursue land purchases along the Missouri River Breaks.
Tester questioned Salazar during a Senate hearing, asking about a recently leaked Interior Department memo which listed possible ideas for monument designations.
Tester directly questioned whether the Administration has any plans to designate a national monument in northeastern Montana.
“There are no plans that we have to move forward,” Salazar responded, adding that there have been “no directions from the White House that we move forward on monument designation.”
Salazar also repeated to Tester his commitment to seek local public input on any decisions regarding public lands.
“If there’s any sort of activity like that going on,” Tester asked, “public input on the ground would be sought out by your Department?”
“Absolutely,” Salazar responded.
Tester told Salazar some Montanans are “fired up” by false rumors of the Interior Department planning to purchase land from willing sellers along the Missouri River Breaks.
“Do you know if this is something that’s real or is this something that is not real?” Tester asked.
“I am not aware that there is any such plan,” Salazar responded, adding the best way to manage public lands is for members of Congress to pursue legislation based on ideas from local communities. “That’s what we intend to do.”
Video of the exchange between Tester and Salazar is available online at http://www.facebook.com/video/video.p...amp;ref=nf .
Rep. Denny Rehberg indicated that he would continue to promote his bill, H.R. 4754, which would require congressional approval of new National Monument designations in Montana. A similar provision is already in place for Wyoming.
Rehberg released the following statement following testimony of U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar before a Senate committee today: “Public input is certainly important, but it’s not enough if that input is ignored or comes after a policy has been written or implemented. When it comes to executive action, we’ve already seen this Administration shoot first and ask questions later, and now that the sights are on millions of acres in Montana, the responsible action is to reassert congressional oversight, just like Wyoming has already done.”
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